The Griffin: volume 69, issue 12 - Nov. 20, 1998

              The "MAAC and Cheese" sports promotion is Canisius' newest method of increasing student support at College sporting events. Read all about it in News... The Hunger Banquet, a special event that takes place annually during Hunger and Homelessness Week, was held on Tuesday, Nov. 17 in Grupp Fireside Lounge from 6 to 8 p.m. The Hunger Banquet, sponsored by Campus Ministry, is an exercise in awareness of the unequal distribution of food in our world. Its intent is to depict the realities of hunger by placing students in real life situations, forcing them to consider how they would cope if they were consistently not getting enough to eat. All donations will go to benefit Africa's hungry.Viewpoints columnist Brian Emerson gives us his version of the facts of life on... Third world members were made to sit on the floor, and were given a cupcake paper with only a large spoonful of dry white rice and a cup of water. They were given no utensils and had to sit on the floor for their meal. Participants of the second world were given a Styrofoam plate of pasta and marinara sauce and a glass of iced tea. They ate with plastic forks have "gained employment," so they could be raised to the second world. Student volunteer Elizabeth Marquette marveled, "It's something like this activity that makes me realize that you'd better be thankful for what you have, because life can change at any time. It's that idea that everyone has only six degrees of separation; you can be in anyone else's position like that." At 4 p.m. volunteers began setting up tables, laying place settings, hanging posters and finishing hunger bracelets representing the first, second and third world countries. Each world's bracelet was color-coded - blue for the first world, the representatives of which would comprise only 15 percent of the guests, red for the second world, approximately 27 percent of the participants, and green for the third world, which was 65 percent of the participants. Upon arrival, each guest, unaware of what each color represented, chose a bracelet and was to receive the meal that corresponded to that world. Sister Patricia Brady, SSMN, Coordinator of Volunteer Services for Campus Ministry welcomed participants and volunteers, with the help of Masters of Ceremony Matthew Blackburn, Martina Ossei- Anto, Courtney Williams, and Abhneer Vashishth. They proceeded to introduce the audience to several facts about hunger. For instance, of the 1.3 billion people who live in poverty, 840 million are Another of the activities was play-acting financial situations in which participants from the second world were downgraded to the third world because they "lost their jobs," while a few from the third world were fortunate enough to hungry; a child dies every two and a half seconds from a hunger-related illness; and the root of hunger is the unequal distribution of resources and an inability to buy food. 15 percent of the world consumes 70 percent of the earth's grain, while third world members are trying to survive on $2 per day. It is not that there is not enough to go around, but that a few have abundance and many have little or none. "This is a taste of how food is distributed," explained Ossei-Anto. "It is a sense of reality that some of you are going to leave hungry just to reinforce what we're doing here tonight." See Hunger Banquet page 3 Cornucopia of words Golly gee, Features Editor Shannon Rohring had a swell time at the movies this week. Read her review of Pleasantville on... Advertising ManagerMollie Strasser had better than a semigood time at the semi-formal last Friday-even if we all do dance like fools! Features columnist Julie Przepiora helps dispel more fitness myths with her interview of fitness instructor Sandra Marshall. The Writers Harvest provided attendees with a sense of the Adjunct professor Tom Joyce followed up with several poems from an anthology about childhood in South Buffalo. The first segment of the evening's performance was concluded with several musical selections by local artist Alison Pipitone. Senior English major Tom Salvatori began the second half of the evening with the recitation of several poems reflecting on his life in New Jersey. He was followed by Dr. Sandra Cookson, who also read a variety of her own poetic works. The evening was concluded with Gary Earl Ross' sharing of an excerpt from his novel-inprogress.After Dr. Mick Cochrane, the faculty organizer for the event,made some opening comments, Dr. Jack D'Amico, acting dean of Arts and Sciences, began the literary aspect of the evening by reading a reflective piece about competitive swimming.On Thursday, Nov. 12, members of the Canisius College community gathered for the annual Writer's Harvest. With over 140 people in attendance, approximately $1000 was raised for area hunger relief. Local professionals, faculty, and staff shared their literary works with a nearly sold out audience. Hunger Banquet participants look on as Masters of Ceremonies Matthew Blackburn, Martina Ossei-Anto, Courtney Williams, and Abhneer Vashishth teach students facts about hunger. page 13 page 15 See Writer's Harvest page 2 Women's basketball coach Mike Decillis made his regular season debut with the Griffs. Find out how the team did against UB on... Gunner Jennine Jainer led All Canisius Shooters in both small bore and air rifle this past weekend. Scope out how she and the rest of the team did. See Conversation page3 News 1-5 Editorial 4 Viewpoints 6-7 Features 8-12 Sports 13-16 Sunday's event is just one in a series of events scheduled by the Region-Wide Conversation for the upcoming year. This is the first time that this type of event is being tried in Buffalo, the impetus coming from a similar event that was held in Cleveland, Ohio. Gaughan referred to Sunday's program as "an unprecedented gathering." According to Michael Rappl, assistant director of Athletics for Facilities, Canisius College staff and Public Safety will be helping with by Benjamin Krass Griffin News Reporter Musical groups inspire harmony between city and suburbs the KAC, and has also enlisted the help of some Canisius students to serve as volunteers. Kevin Gaughan, the founder and co-chair of the Region-Wide Conversation, was pleased to be able to use Canisius College as a venue to stage the event. "It's fitting that we got it [the Region-Wide Conversation] at Canisius College, a place of learning," he said. According to Gaughan, the learning atmosphere of the College provides a suitable environment for the program, which is supposed to break down boundaries between religious faiths, different sections of Buffalo and between city-dwellers and suburban residents. Gaughan also noted that it is symbolic that the program is being held on Main Street. He related that while Main Street is rich in history and heritage, it can also be seen as a powerful boundary dividing the city in half. As part of the program, which is free and open to the public, religious leaders and participants will proceed up Delevan Avenue from the Health Science Building at 4:30 p.m., making a left onto Main Street and then entering the KAC through the lower level entrances. Short musical performances, to begin as the participants enter the KAC, are to be given by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO), the Olmsted School Chorus, and the pop group 10,000 Maniacs. Originally, speakers were supposed to include the Hon. Kweisi Mfume, present of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Bishop Anthony Pilla of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese. However, both Mfume and Pilla will be unable to attend due to prior commitments. At press time, replacements had not yet been found. Canisius College is not involved with the event, at which a host of religious leaders are scheduled to give short speeches, with the program culminating at approximately 6:20 p.m. The group is simply renting out The Region-Wide Conversation group is holding a program of the same name this Sunday, Nov. 22 at the Koessler Athletic Center (KAC). This is an event that emphasizes inter-religious discussions with the purpose of fostering an understanding between Western New York's city and suburban residents. Mfn>. Volume LXIX Number 12 November 20, 1998 "Serving the Canisius Community Since 1933" Hunger Banquet: a contradiction with a purpose by Marisa Loffredo Griffin News Editor page 2 page 3 page 6 by Jennifer Gorczynski Griffin Managing Editor page 8 page 9 page 10 The College rectory, purchased from St. Vincent's Church in 1993, is being converted to a Canisius residence. Find out more on... THRTiRirFIN INSIDE INDEX